Pros and Cons of Drinking Alcohol - 1305 Words

Alcohol abuse is the most common problem, nowadays. In fact, majority of people drink alcohol repeatedly to the point where they have difficulty to stop. Statistics show that, as much as, â€Å"40% of college students report drinking five or more drinks in one episode† (Walters Baer, 2006). Alcohol has become more popular over the years as advertisements, simultaneously with commercials of it, filled the media. It also is easily accessible and cheap in comparison to other psychoactive substances. On the other hand, alcohol safety awareness programs are barely noticeable. My research will present how alcohol and its abuse gets into people’s lives and how it influences their physical and mental health, as well as, social existence. Let’s ask†¦show more content†¦Although society likes to name alcoholism a disease, in fact, it is only a strong behavioral problem. A research done by Elvin Morton Jellinek, described later in his book, got him to conclu de that alcoholism was biologically induced. Not only I disagree with his thesis, but I also think his beliefs were simply naive. Trying to define a disease, we should think of a genetic imbalance that no one is able to refuse. On the other hand, an addiction is a choice of a way of dealing with emotions. Certainly, we are not able to rewrite genetic code, but we can manage our own emotions and actions. Nevertheless, no matter how an alcohol addiction originates, it still progresses in the same pattern. An adventure with alcohol always begins with, seemingly harmless, social drinking, which is referred to, by professionals, as phase 1. People are trying to have a good time as often as possible, and almost every time, liquors are present. No one is then considering frequency of filling their body-cells with damaging substance. Let’s, now, take a look at a table presented by Howard C. Becker in one of his publications for NIAAA. Figure 1. Schematic illustration of how problem drinking can lead to the development of dependence, repeated withdrawal experiences, and enhanced vulnerability to relapse. The graph shows, that it takes as little as one step to start harming a human organism, and about two steps to get stuck insideShow MoreRelatedDrinking At 18 Legal Or Not949 Words   |  4 PagesDrinking at 18 legal or not Changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 has been a controversial argument for many years now, Even though every states legal drinking age is 21 there is some states that make certain exceptions in some situations. There is many pros and cons to changing this such as a good thing is some 18 year olds may not binge drink as they do when they turn 21. If 18-20 year olds are allowed to drink in supervised locations such as bars and restaurants it would be a much safer environmentRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age From 21 Essay1214 Words   |  5 PagesUnderage drinking. It’s all the rage in this generation. Youths everywhere are subjecting themselves to excessive amounts of alcohol at illegal ages, and the consequences are evident all around us. Every year over 5,000 kids under the age of 21 die from alcohol abuse, 1 in 5 10th graders will resort to binge drinking, and alcohol continues to damage developing teen brains (Let’s Stop Teen Drinking Tragedies). 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